Proxy Pricing Explained: Why GB Pricing Varies 10× in 2026

By Elena Park · 2026-02-02 · 6 min read · Pricing

The price spread between cheap and premium proxies is huge. Here's exactly what you're paying for at the top end.

Where the cost comes from

Proxy providers pay peer-network operators per GB of relayed traffic, plus infrastructure, compliance, support and software. At scale, the marginal cost of a GB of residential traffic is somewhere between $0.50 and $2.00 — everything above that is margin, support quality, and compliance overhead.

Why premium vendors charge more

Bright Data and Oxylabs invest heavily in KYC, ethical sourcing audits, SOC 2 / ISO 27001 certification, 24/7 enterprise support, and high-quality unblocking software. That's worth real money to compliance-sensitive buyers — banks, agencies, Fortune 500 data teams.

When the cheap option is fine

For solo developers and side projects, $2/GB Decodo or $1.75/GB IPRoyal is more than enough. You give up some support polish and a smaller pool, but the underlying network quality is genuinely competitive.